So I'm about to take my first trip on Amtrak at the end of the month to head home to Columbia, SC for my mother's birthday (considering the cost of gas and the duration of the trip, the cost of either comes out even). I'll be taking the Silver Star from Raleigh to Columbia. Any tips on being a smart passenger for my first trip on Amtrak? Also, what sort of equipment are the coach cars? Amfleet I? Amfleet II?

South Carolina - too small to be its own country, too big to be a mental asylum.

The cars on these trains are Viewliners, as they are ex-New York long distance trains and the tunnel height doesn't really allow Superliners. Amfleets are used for shorter distance trains like Metroliner, NE Corridor service, a very few San Diegan/Pacific Surfliner (Most are surfliner cars now).